Babysitter
by Malluchan
Summary: Tsubasa has to pick up Ryuga from the police station. AGAIN. Ryuga gets a severe talking-to and Tsubasa gets a new roommate; it seems he has his work cut out for him...


Needed to write a little something to get my creative juices flowing, so I present you with DIS.

So Ryuga and Tsubasa are stuck in a car in traffic.

* * *

One inch per minute - this was a new record for the traffic in Metal City.

Ryuga leaned his head out the passenger's side window and yelled loudly: "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY YOU PATHETIC SNAILS!"

Tsubasa grabbed him by the back of the shirt and hauled him back inside the car, shutting the window with a press of a button. "Will you be quiet? You've already caused enough trouble."

So far Ryuga had been caught smuggling rats into a laundromat, smashing apples in a blender and then dumping them from the top of a tall building - 'for target practise' - and yelling 'BOO' behind random people in a grocery store. As a result, he was now banned from the Metal City skyscraper, all laundromats forever, and grocery stores. Finally the police had found him running away from a fountain filled with dish soap and insisted he call his parents.

Tsubasa did not know what had possessed Ryuga to call him instead and was now stuck in rush hour traffic with the scoundrel in a tiny car when he should have been at home eating dinner.

"You drive too slow. Gimme that." Ryuga reached over for the steering wheel. Tsubasa smacked his hand away and gave him a glare that could melt ice cream; Ryuga slouched in his seat and glared in turn at the back bumper of the Honda in front of them.

"I cannot drive faster because I will hit somebody", said Tsubasa through gritted teeth, "And you got your license suspended for driving in the wrong lane. Every. Single. Time."

"I wasn't in the wrong lane. Everyone else was!"

"Be quiet."

Tsubasa rested his head against the window with a soft sigh. Traffic had come to a complete stop.

"YOU can't tell me to be quiet. You're the one talking."

Ryuga fiddled with the air vents restlessly. Checked inside the glove compartment for shiny things. Turned on the radio at full blast.

Tsubasa yelped as the radio pounded his eardrums and jammed his fingers down on the mute button.

"Hey! I was listening to that!"

"Really? Are you sure? That thing could KILL YOU it was so loud!"

Ryuga deliberately turned the radio up again and Tsubasa turned it back down. Up. Down. Up. Down.

Then Tsubasa realised there was a car's length of space in front of them and cars honking behind them; he made to pull up, but already another car was swerving in from the lane next to them. Tsubasa smacked himself in the forehead.

"Now look what you did! Thanks to you, we are now ANOTHER CAR FARTHER FROM HOME!"

"How is it my fault!? YOU didn't want to listen to the radio, I was just trying to find something to do!"

"Are you serious? Are you seriously serious!? Your level of immaturity is overwhelming, Ryuga."

"I cannot believe you just said that. I am NOT immature."

"I mean, dish soap in a fountain. Seriously."

Tsubasa grabbed a road map from the glove compartment and smacked him in the head with it. "Come on, Ryuga. Get a grip. Get a job, and go do something worthwhile so I don't have to pick you up from the police station Every. Single. Day."

Ryuga snatched the map from him and smacked him back. "Don't tell ME to get something to do! Nobody wants to hire me!"

Tsubasa grabbed another road map and tried to defend himself. "It's your fault nobody wants to hire you! You could be a wonderful tomato sauce can stacker at that grocery store if you hadn't got yourself kicked out!"

"I would rather be chained to a Wookie for the rest of my life!" Smack.

"I'm sure that can be arranged!" Smack.

Suddenly Ryuga reached over and opened the driver's side door. Chilly air rushed in at them, and he pushed Tsubasa out the door, screaming, "THIS IS SPARTA!"

Tsubasa watched in wordless horror as Ryuga veered his beloved car over onto the median and sped away.

It was a long walk home. Tsubasa had left his jacket in the car and was extremely cold. When he couldn't bear it any longer, he stepped into a clothing store and bought a cheap coat from one of the racks and wore it the rest of the way to the WBBA building.

Suddenly he saw the glint of a familiar license plate and hurried over; sure enough, it was his car.

Smashed against the WBBA wall in an alley.

With a yell, Tsubasa kicked at the wall angrily, and then leaned against it with a sigh, composing himself.

And then he turned and went inside.

* * *

Ryuga sat at a conference table like the school bully in a principal's office - that is to say, hooking his feet in the lower bar of the table and leaning his chair back as far as it would go without falling over.

Ryo paced in front of him. "Do you realise what you've gotten yourself into? You owe a lady for her apple-covered hat, and Tsubasa for a jacket and HIS CAR." Ryo paused and turned thoughtfully. "Although, you have cleaned out the fountain with all that soap. Well done."

Tsubasa bristled, and Ryo hastily added, "That does not make up for what you have done. AS USUAL, the WBBA will be paying for Tsubasa's car, AGAIN, but you'll pay for the lady's hat and the jacket from your own pocket. Ryuga, it is time you got a job and a home off the streets. The WBBA can not afford to pay for your crimes much longer, and you'll be in a homeless shelter in no time if you don't perk up your life."

Ryo turned.

"And for the time being, Tsubasa has generously offered you a place in his apartment."

Tsubasa sputtered. "Wh-wh- I DID NOT!"

"Honestly, Tsubasa, it's the least you can do. We're paying for your car."

When he tried to protest, Ryo shrugged indifferently. "Fine. He can go sleep somewhere else. But then your car is staying where it is. The WBBA is dedicated to the welfare of bladers everywhere, and although Ryuga has not been a very good boy lately, he is one of us."

Tsubasa gave a longing glance out the window to his smashed car in the alley below, and finally turned. "Fine. But only until my car is fixed."

* * *

A taxi took them home that night. They got to the apartment building and Ryuga trailed behind Tsubasa like a lost dog, examining every single stair thoughtfully until Tsubasa snapped at him to hurry up.

At last they got to the door, and once inside, Ryuga walked over to the window. They were on the top floor of the apartment building, and he peered down eagerly. No doubt water balloons were already on his mind.

Tsubasa grabbed the back of Ryuga's head and pulled him away from the window, pointing to the couch. "This is your bed. Now go to sleep and do not wake me up. Also, stay out of the fridge."

"I'm not tired." Ryuga grabbed the TV remote and pointed it at the TV. Instantly Tsubasa grabbed it and pocketed it. "No. Go to sleep."

"I don't have a bedtime. You can't tell me what to do!"

"But you - " Tsubasa smacked himself again. "You're acting like a little kid. I don't want to argue this with you. I'm too tired." He turned away. "Stay up if you want, but I'm keeping this remote. Also, stay out of the fridge."

"I know, I know."

But as soon as Tsubasa got inside his bedroom, he heard the fridge open, and sighed.

It was going to be a long night.


End file.
